


Don't Look [Bird Box AU]

by TragicWriter01



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: F/F, Mystery, Post-Apocalypse, Suspense, Thriller
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-10-04 02:43:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17296232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TragicWriter01/pseuds/TragicWriter01
Summary: Eighteen girls. All different backgrounds. Different families. All have the same objective. To survive the days, completely blind. Why? Simply put, if they see IT, they die. Saw Bird Box online and thought I could write a story about the Love Live girls. What were to happen if they were in the Bird Box world? Read to find out! Cross posted on FanFiction.net!





	1. Prologue

“Listen to me, because I’m only gonna say this once. We are going on the trip now, and it’s going to be rough. It’s gonna feel like it’s going on for a long time, it’s gonna be hard to stay alert and it’s gonna be even _harder_ to stay quiet, but you _have to do both_. You have to do every single thing I say, or we will not make it out of this alive. Do you understand?” 

A nod. 

“Under _no_ circumstance are you allowed to take off your blindfold. Understand?” 

Another nod. 

“It’s gonna be cold out there. We have food, we have blankets, and we have each other.” 

A soft smile. 

“Now, remember, this is just a place, so there is _nothing else_ that we need from it. Do you understand?” 

A nod. 

“You have to _listen_ , Ruby, as close as you possibly can.”

“Okay.” 

“If you hear something in the woods, you signal me. If you hear something in the _water_ , you signal me. Now, you remember the signals we went over, right?” 

“I squeeze your hand when I hear something in the woods, and I kick your foot when I hear something while we’re on the boat in the water.” 

“And, if we get separated? What do we do?” Ruby smiles again. 

“We sing.” 

“Good girl. Remember, you never _ever_ take off your blindfold, because if you look, you will _die_. Do you understand?” 

A final nod. “I understand, Onee-chan.” 

Dia smiled through pursed lips and took Ruby’s cheeks in her hands. She leaned over and placed a soft kiss to her forehead. 

“Okay. Let’s get going.” 

Ruby checked off her list of things she needed to bring. 

_Only things that I_ need _to bring_ , she thought. _Never anything I_ want _to bring. Water, thermos, tea bags, canned goods, flashlight. What else, what else…?_

She did a thorough check inside her backpack. She bit down on her lip, thinking. She took a glance at her wrist and noticed. 

Her scrunchy was missing. 

Her eyes widened and she was about to look around in a panic before she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see Dia, smiling while holding her scrunchy up. 

“Looking for this?” 

Ruby breathed a sigh of relief and smiled gratefully to her sister, taking the scrunchy. 

“Thank you. Do you have yours?” Dia smiled softly and raised her right arm. 

“Always.” 

Ruby gave her sister a small smile. She bumped her wrist with Dia’s, so their scrunchies touched. Dia takes Ruby’s hand in her own and pulls her in for a hug. 

In each others’ embrace, the Kurosawa sisters thought the exact same thing. 

_God help us._


	2. The Outside

“Hehe! Once again, Dia-chan, Kanan-chan, Mari-chan!”

“Congratulations on your graduation!” 

A graduation party at the Ohara family hotel. All Mari’s idea. The third-years couldn’t decide who would host the celebration, so Mari took the job on herself. Mari’s maids were bringing in plates of food. Seeing that they were having a bit of trouble carrying some things, the first and second-years helped them out. 

“Gosh, Mari-chan, this all looks _amazing_ , zura!” Hanamaru squealed. 

Mari giggled. “Well, you can eat all you like! We’ve got a whole smorgasbord here, everyone. So, let’s eat before this gets cold.” 

Everyone put their hands together, smiling before saying the magic word.

“Itadakimasu!” 

The girls were all chatting while eating, having an all-around good time. The hours passed and it was time for Dia, Kanan and Mari to receive their graduations gifts.

“This is from the first-years!” Ruby said, smiling. She handed the wrapped gift to her sister. Dia smiled gratefully. 

Chika passed Kanan’s gift to her. 

“This one’s from the second-years, Kanan-chan!” Kanan laughed, taking the gift. 

“Thanks, guys.”

You winked at Mari, handing her her gift.

“And this… is from both the second and first-years. Hope you like it, Mari-chan!”

Mari blushed softly.

“Thank you, guys.” 

“So, shall we open them all together?” Dia asked.

“Mm-hmm.”

“Let’s do it!” 

They were about to open their gifts, when Mari’s mother came into the room. She gave her daughter a serious look, walking over to her. 

“Mari,” she said. “Turn on the news, _right now_.” Her mother spoke in English. Mari furrowed her brow. 

“Why?” 

“Something’s happening. Something… very worrisome.” 

Mari hesitantly went over to the television set in the room and grabbed the remote. 

“Mari-san?” 

Mari turned the TV on and flipped through to an American news channel. 

“… Airports and train stations have shut down. Streets are crowded with people escaping cities by car and on foot as witnesses report ‘unexplained mass suicides’. First recorded in Romania, there have now been reports spreading as far as Europe and Siberia. Estimated death toll is in the tens of thousands—”

Mari quickly flipped to another news channel.

“… Don’t yet know what is causing the mass suicides in Europe and Russia. They eyewitness reports tell of people experiencing ‘psychotic behavior’. Our sources are telling us that this phenomena does not appear to be pathological or viral and U.S. authorities are advising the public to remain calm. There have been no officially confirmed—”

Mari turned the TV off, breathing heavily before setting the remote back down.

“Europe… Papa…” 

“Mari…” Kanan went over to calm her friend. “Didn’t you say your Dad is… in Italy for work right now?” Mari nodded. 

“H-He’s been going back and forth from America to Italy for work.” Mari brought a trembling hand to her lips. “He… wasn’t able to make it today, since he’s… at a conference.” 

Suddenly, there was the sound of glass breaking. It came from the room across from them. 

“What was that?” 

The second-years were about to rush out of the room before Kanan stopped them.

“Wait, don’t go out in such a rush!” Chika turned back to the third and first-years. “Just… take a peek outside. Open the door, _slowly_.”

Chika crouched down to the floor and You opened the door. Riko looked through the crack of the door. She squinted her eyes and soon widened them at what she just saw. 

One of the maids had jumped through the shattered window.

The second-years trembled in utter fear at the sight. 

“Guys, what did you see?” 

“O-One of the maids just…”

“Jumped out the broken window.”

“What?!” Dia shrieked. “At this height?! We’re at the top floor!” 

“… Mama?” 

You, Riko and Chika turned back to their friends. Mari’s mother was slowly walking towards the balcony. She looked back at her daughter. Her mother’s eyes… they were blank. She slowly slid the balcony door open. Mari was about to follow her mother out onto the balcony, but Kanan held her.

“Mari, _don’t._ ”

Mari’s mother turned once again toward her daughter. There were tears rolling down her cheeks right before she turned… and let herself fall. 

“Mama!! No!! No, please, _no_!!!” 

“Mari! Nngh, get ahold of yourself!” 

“Mari-san…”

“Nngh, Yoshiko-chan, shut the balcony door… lock it, and… argh, slide the blinds through! Do it now!” 

“W-What?” 

“We can’t… let anyone here near the windows! Do as I tell you, _now_!” 

It took Yoshiko a second to process what was going on, but she fairly understood that no one could go near the windows. Hanamaru held Ruby’s hand as the Kurosawa redhead cried. 

“W-What’s going on here?” 

“That’s what I’d like to know,” Kanan said lowly. She sighed through pursed lips and turned Mari to face her. “Mari, Mari, focus! Snap out of it.” Mari’s breathing was ragged as her eyes stayed down. “Mari, _look at me_.” Mari’s golden eyes slowly met Kanan’s amethyst. Kanan placed her hands on Mari’s shoulders. “There are… other guests in the hotel at the moment, right?” Mari gave a slight nod. Kanan sighed through pursed lips. “Okay.”

“W-What are you thinking, Kanan-chan?” You asked.

“These… mass suicides… Whatever’s happening in Europe… could also be happening here.” 

“Wait, you mean, people have just been… killing themselves left and right for no reason?” 

Kanan laughed. 

“There _has_ to be a reason for this… We just have to find out _what_ that reason is, and—” Suddenly, a buzzer sounded throughout the hotel. They all sat still. “Mari, what is that?” 

“Th-That’s an alarm for… for when we have deliveries for things from Papa. The postman never… he never just comes in, he always buzzes in first.” 

Just then, a voice came on the intercom near Mari’s bedroom door. 

“ _Hello? Is anyone there? Please help us!”_

_“Things have gone crazy out here! Please let us in!”_

_“My friends need help! Please, someone, answer us!”_

Mari stepped over to the intercom and held the button down. 

“Hello? Can someone state their name for me?” Mari said nervously. The girls all heard a collective sigh of relief through the intercom.

_“Oh, thank God! Um, th-this is Nishikino Maki! I’m an intern at Nishikino General Hospital! I’m here with… my friends. There are nine of us, including me. No one’s injured, but… our families…”_

Mari bit down on her lip, thinking. She looked back at her friends.

Kanan gave a nod.

“Let them in.”

* * *

 

Maki and her friends, Nico, Rin, Eri, Umi, Kotori, Honoka, Hanayo and Nozomi all await the elevator’s ascension to the top floor of the Ohara Hotel. 

“Kokoro… Kotaro… Kokoa…” 

Nico whimpered her siblings' names and cried softly. Maki wrapped an arm around her friend.

“Nico-chan… I’m so sorry…” Nico cried into Maki’s shoulder. 

Honoka’s shoulders shook as she cried her sister’s name. 

“Yukiho… Why? Why did you have to go and—!” She bit back her tears. 

Eri was biting down on her quivering lip. She clenched her fist, thinking of her sister, Arisa.

“Ericchi…” 

Nozomi held Eri’s hand. Eri choked back a sob, bringing her hand to her lips, muffling her cries. 

Maki looked around at all her friends. Losing their families was more than enough to break them. 

But she had to remain composed. She had to stay calm. 

They finally reached the top floor. The elevator doors opened to reveal Mari and her friends on the other side. 

“Which one of you is Nishikino Maki?” Mari asked. 

Maki stepped forward and raised her hand.

“Me,” she mumbled. “These are my friends.” She nodded back to the girls behind her. Mari smiled softly. 

“I’m Ohara Mari. My father owns this hotel…” She nodded back to her friends. “and these are my friends.” Kanan stepped up and placed a hand on Mari’s shoulder. 

“I hate to skip the proper introductions, but we should lead you into Mari’s suite. We could use the extra brains, if anything.” Maki nodded.

“Sure thing.” 

The eighteen girls were meeting in Mari’s suite. After getting properly acquainted, they spent time discussing possible reasons to why people would be committing mass suicide.

“Is it supposed to be some kind of… virus or something?” Hanamaru asked. 

“If this was a virus, I would have known about it,” Maki stated. “The hospital would have been all over this, if that was the case.” 

“Okay then… Maybe this is some kind of… I don’t know, chemical thing? Something in the air, maybe?” Yoshiko guessed. Maki nodded. 

“W-Wait, th-the news said that… People don’t know what’s causing these suicides. So, everyone’s just… in the dark right now.” 

“Wait, actually, maybe not,” Maki said hastily. 

“Maki?” Eri asked. “What d’you know?” Maki blew a breath, not believing that she herself was slowly becoming convinced of this outrageous theory.

“People have been describing this… _thing_ as… I don’t know, some sort of… spirit creature… Some kind of… entity that takes on the form of your worst fears.”

“And… exactly, _who_ has been describing this kinda thing, Maki?” Umi asked. Tongue in cheek, Maki grumbled.

“Some of the professors at the University. I called it bullshit, so… I-I went and looked it up.” There were a few scoffs from both groups, but Maki ignored them. “At first, I didn’t want to believe it… until I witnessed…” She choked up. “My parents killed themselves right in front of me. My father slit his own throat with a scalpel and… my mother bashed her head into a window and fell from the third floor of our hospital…” 

“Maki-chan…”  
“Oh my God…”

Maki rubbed the back of her neck, feeling the tension build up from recollecting her parents’ deaths. 

“S-So, how do we…”

“How do we survive this…?” Ruby whispered. 

“My guess…” Nozomi said. “We just… don’t look at what’s in front of us.” 

“Because if we look…” 

“We die.” 

 

 

 

 


	3. The Plan and The Execution

"Alright, so what's the plan?" Honoka asked.

"Kanan looks like she's leading the pack here," Maki commented. "So, I can assume  _you're_ the one with the plan?"

Kanan shrugged.

"I suppose the plan for right now is… keep  _all_ the windows barricaded in  _all_ the rooms of the hotel." Maki nodded.

"That would make sense, but what about all the other guests in this hotel?" Irked at herself, Kanan poked her tongue into her cheek. "There are other people here besides us, and there's no telling how many others are affected by… whatever the fuck is going on outside."

"Maki's right," Umi added. "We now know that we can't  _look_ at… well, whatever this thing is, so… how can we be so sure the other guests are doing what we're doing?"

"We'd have to warn them without causing a panic…" Mari stated.

"What'll we do about food?" Yoshiko asked. "I mean, as Maki-san said, we're not the only ones here. I feel like we'd run out pretty quickly."

Honoka pursed her lips, thinking. "Well, where's the nearest supermarket here?"

Riko nipped down on her bottom lip. "It's about… I'd say, ten minutes by car?" She had to guess because she had only been there on foot.

Nico crossed her arms.

"How long would it take to get there on foot?" she asked.

"My guess," Ruby said. "Probably double the amount of time, so twenty minutes."

"Wait, we won't have to get there on foot!" Dia exclaimed. Maki's group furrowed their brows. "Mari-san, we have your van." Maki turned to Mari.

"You have a van?"

Mari nodded. "My… father got it for me as a… pre-graduation present." Maki smiled softly at that.

"Let me ask you this, Mari. Are the windows on that van tinted?" Mari shook her head.

"No, but they have like, these… curtains, I guess is what you could call 'em."

"Alright, then, we're gonna have to take an extra precaution and… well, tint the windows ourselves."

"How would we do that, nya?" Rin asked.

"I'm guessing with paint," Kanan answered. The girls furrowed their brows.

"Wait, wait. So, we're expected to drive  _blind_?"

"I… don't see how that's safe," Kotori mumbled.

"Okay, granted, it's not the safest method, but…" Mari looks around at her group. "one of you guys is gonna have to guide me; be my eyes. Make sure I don't bump into anything."

"Don't exactly know if this is gonna work, but…"

"It's worth a shot, okay?" Mari breathed. Kanan stood up.

"Dia, Chika, Riko, you can come with me to grab the paint and work on the windows of the van. The rest of our group can inform the other guests of this… crisis and Maki-san's group can see if anyone has any cell signal."

"Onee-chan, be careful out there," Ruby whimpered as she came over to hug her sister. Dia chuckled in her embrace.

"Silly, the maintenance room isn't very far from here."

"In fact, Ruby, it's just down the hall." Dia nodded, but her voice lowered.

"The garage, however, is… well, as you'd expect, underground."

"Well, in any case, just be careful, okay?" Ruby whimpered. Dia smiled endearingly at her sister. She pecked the top of her head.

"I will. I'll be right back, okay?" Ruby nodded.

"Kanan."

"Yes, Maki-san?"

Maki tossed Kanan a flashlight. Kanan got a good look at it and furrowed her brow.

"Just another precaution, since you're going underground. Probably doesn't have much electricity down there. At least, maybe not in this state." Kanan nodded gratefully.

"Thank you."

* * *

The air was surprisingly thick in the halls of the hotel. Kanan, Riko, Dia and Chika slowly open the door to the hallways and peek outside. Maki gave them a few makeshift blindfolds to protect their eyes. Prepping themselves at the door to the halls, the four Aqours members slipped the blindfolds over their eyes. Kanan blew a breath before turning back to the other three members.

"Okay, everybody, remember to stay close."

"Right!"

Kanan felt around for the door's handle. She got a firm grasp on it, gripping it with her trembling hand.

Riko held onto Kanan's shoulder, Dia held onto Riko's shoulder and Chika held onto Dia's shoulder.

"If  _anything_ goes on here while we're gone, someone here's just gotta  _scream_ , understand?" Kanan yells to the rest of the girls.

"We'll be fine, Kanan!" Mari assured. "Get going!"

Kanan blows a quick breath.

"Okay…" She bites down on her lip before slowly opening the door. The second they breathed the air in the hallway, their hearts raced out of their chests. "Part of me thinks we should just run. Anyone else?"

"I would agree," Dia whispered. "Only I don't want to risk anyone falling behind."

"I agree with Dia-san," Chika whimpered.

"Riko?"

"… I agree with Dia-san, too — let's just take it slow."

"Okay, then…"

They stumbled for a few minutes, feeling around them.

"Stay close to the wall," Dia ordered.

Some of the doors were already opened, so it was a little difficult for them to feel any walls, but within a few minutes, they finally made it to the end of the hallway.

"I-Is this the maintenance room, Kanan-chan?" Chika whimpered.

"I-I think so…" Kanan felt around the letters on the room's sign. Her trembling fingers laced over the letters. M-A-I-N-T-E-N-A-N-C-E. "Alright!" she said hastily. "This is it!" She felt around for Riko's shoulder and pulled her inside, Chika and Dia following closely behind. "Gimme a second, keep your blindfolds on!" Kanan did her best to feel around for any windows in the room. She imagined it to be a fairly small room with not much in it. Taking that into account, the room being small would mean likely more things to trip themselves on. "O-kaay, I guess there are no windows, so… Guys, take your blindfolds off."

Riko, Dia, and Chika slowly slipped their blindfolds down. Taking a look around, they noticed.

"Yes, you're right, Kanan-san. There are no windows."

"Okay," she breathed. "Thanks." Kanan slowly slipped her blindfold off and breathed a sigh of relief. She turned back to her friends. "Okay, everyone, see if you can find cans of paint around here, specifically black."

* * *

Meanwhile, the rest of Aqours was gathered around the intercom in Mari's suite. Mari's breath was shaky.

"C'mon, Mari-chan," Hanamaru encouraged. "You've made announcements in school before." Mari sighed through pursed lips.

"This is completely different if you didn't already notice, Hanamaru." The younger girl sadly nodded. "Agh, how am I supposed to tell them… No,  _what_ am I supposed to say?!"

Noticing Mari's distress, Maki stepped up.

"Mari, d'you mind if I take over?" The blonde lifted her eyes to meet the redhead's. "I-I can understand if you're overwhelmed. I can… I can take the reins here if you'd like. You can work with my group."

Mari moistened her lips before taking a second to think. She nibbled on her bottom lip.

"I appreciate your concern, Maki-san, but… my mother is… dead, my father could also be dead…" Her voice broke. "I'm the only one that can do this."

Maki pursed her lips. She gave in.

"Okay. Take care of business, then." She held her fist up, and Mari gave a small smile before bumping Maki's fist with her own. Maki went back to her group. Mari breathed deeply, letting her shoulders rise and fall.

"You can do this, Mari-chan!" You encouraged.

"Let's try this again, Mari, okay?" Yoshiko said, smiling softly. You and Yoshiko gently massaged Mari's shoulders, helping her relax. Once again, Mari breathed deeply, ready to press the "ON" switch on the intercom, when suddenly, the door flew open.

"You guys, we have a problem!" Chika shrieked as she quickly took her blindfold off.

"Chika?" Mari exclaimed. "What's wrong?"

"Riko-chan's injured! And it's  _bad…_ " Maki immediately stood up.

"Were you guys in the maintenance room?"

"K-Kanan-chan didn't want to take any chances going down the elevator. She thought it'd just randomly break down, so we… we decided to take the s-stairs. Ri-Riko-chan… She fell down a flight of stairs and into some b-broken glass…"

* * *

Meanwhile, Dia and Kanan were struggling to keep Riko from panicking from the pain.

"It… It hurts! Make it stop, please!" Dia cradled Riko's head in her lap, smoothing her hair out. Riko's right shoulder had a large shard of glass gaping out of it. The blood trickled down her arm and Riko was beginning to pale from the blood loss.

"Riko-san, it's okay, you're gonna be okay."

"Riko, just stay calm, a-and try to stay awake, alright?"

Riko sobbed, the pain causing her to sweat.

"Please…" she begged. "Make it stop…"

Seeing her friend in such excruciating pain, Kanan had a thought.

"Dia, we're on the fourth-floor stairway."

"Yes, and?"

"I don't think Chika's gonna arrive before Riko loses consciousness from the shock of this." Dia eyed her friend.

"What are you saying?"

Kanan bit down on her lip.

"I think we're gonna have to pull this shard of glass out."


	4. And The Hell Begins

"I think we're gonna have to pull this shard of glass out." Dia's eyes widened.

"Are you crazy?! Kanan-san, think about how much blood she'll lose!"

"I hear you loud and clear Dia, but she'll be in a  _lot_ less pain, if we just… pull this thing out in one go."

"In one go?!"

"It's our only choice!" Kanan groaned, getting frustrated with her friend. "Riko… Look at her, Dia!" The tears welled up in Dia's eyes as she looked down at her former underclassman. Riko was writhing in unbearable pain, the tears flowing to no end. Kanan quickly slipped her blindfold off of her neck. "Have Riko bite down on her blindfold. The second that I pull that shard out of her arm…" She handed Dia her blindfold. "Wrap this around the wound. Do it as soon as I tell you, alright?" Dia brought a trembling hand up to Riko's neck to reach for her blindfold. She brought it up to her lips.

"Riko-san," she whispered. "I'm gonna need you to bite into this. Bear with us, because… this is going to hurt." Kanan blew a breath and brought her fingers to grab onto the shard of glass. "Just keep your eyes on me, alright?" Through the tears in her eyes, Riko nodded.

"Here we go, Riko." Kanan gripped the shard. "All at once…" she whispered. She eyed Dia and then Riko. She bit firmly down on her bottom lip. "One… two… three!"

True to her plan, Kanan successfully pulled the shard out of Riko's arm in one go, luckily, without shredding more of her friend's skin.

Riko shrieked into her blindfold, grappling to Dia's hand. The tears flowed down the pianist's eyes and she constantly whimpered through the pain.

Remembering Kanan's instructions, Dia immediately leaned over Riko and untied Kanan's blindfold. She reached over to wrap the blindfold around Riko's wound. She tied the knot around her shoulder tight enough to put pressure, but not tight enough that her friend would lose circulation.

Riko's breaths turned ragged before she slowly lost consciousness. Dia's eyes grew wide.

"Riko-san?"

"Relax; she just…" Kanan sighed heavily. "She just passed out." Dia breathed a sigh of relief, resting her hand on her chest. Kanan lent a tired smile to her friend. "You did great, Dia." Dia returned a soft smile.

"So did you."

Amidst the quiet, Kanan suddenly felt a rush of air behind her. Dia looked up over Kanan's shoulder and furrowed her brow.

"What was that?" Kanan asked. Dia eyed her.

"I-I think… someone just… jumped." Kanan furrowed her brow.

"Jumped…?"

"Off the railing…"

_Thud!_

A body landed flat on the floor of the first stairway.

It took Kanan a second, but then she realized…

Chika should have arrived with help by now. That 'someone' that just jumped off the railing…? Was it who she brought to help, or…?

Quickly denying herself, Kanan shook her head. She stood up and turned to the railing behind her.

She closed her eyes for a second, not wanting to see who she thought. Her heart raced before she finally opened her eyes.

At first, she couldn't tell.

She squinted her amethyst eyes a little harder. Her eyes were saucers a second later.

Down on the first-floor stairway, a body was splayed out on the ground from the impact. A puddle of blood pooled near the head.

Chika's body lay lifeless on the floor of the Ohara Hotel. She was dead. She committed suicide.

Kanan's best friend, her little sister, was now dead.

Kanan slumped down to the floor and slowly turned to Dia.

"Chika…"

"Eh?"

"… It's Chika… Sh-She j-jumped off…" Dia's eyes widened.

"Chika…san…? N-No…"

Kanan's eyes welled up with tears. Her chest tightened. Her breathing quickened. She put her head in her hands and shrieked at the top of her lungs. The tears flowed down her cheeks as she just screamed. Screamed. And screamed.

Seeing her friend howl in anguish, Dia brought a trembling hand to her lips to muffle her cries.

They heard a rattle of footsteps rushing down the stairs. Dia looked up to see Maki, in a panic.

"Dia… Kanan, I…"

"She was with you?" Kanan whimpered. Maki couldn't meet the Aqours members' eyes. "Maki-san… Chika… Was she with you…?"

Maki bit down on her lip. She blinked back the tears before looking down at Kanan.

"Kanan… Yes, Chika was with me when she… jumped off. I tried to stop her, I really did," Maki pleaded. "Please… just tell me who I need to tend to." Kanan choked back a sob but quickly regained her composure.

"Riko… She's… she's hurt pretty bad." Maki's eyes panned over to Riko. She went over to Riko and Dia. She knelt down to carefully examine Riko's wound. Kanan still knelt, staring at the ground. Dia pursed her lips, sadly looking over to her friend. She glanced back to Maki who nodded down to the first-aid kit prepped beside her.

"I always carry it with me."

Dia pursed her lips and glanced over to Kanan. She peered back down at Riko and nodded towards Maki.

"Maki-san, please take care of Riko-san." Maki nodded.

"Of course I will."

Dia carefully moved from underneath Riko and gently rested her head on the ground. She stood up and went over to Kanan, crouching down to her level.

"Kanan-san, we need to keep moving," she whispered. Kanan slowly looked up at Dia, her tear-stained cheeks clearly visible. Dia carefully places a hand on Kanan's shoulder. "Kanan-san, please… Chika-san, she…" Dia choked back a sob. "She would want you to s-stay alive…" Saying nothing, Kanan flinched when she felt Dia's arms wrap around her. "Please, just… get up…" she begged. "I can't lose you," she whimpered. "Kanan-san… Please…"

Wanting to reassure her friend, Kanan slowly returned Dia's embrace. Dia pulled away slightly, looking into Kanan's eyes.

"Alright," Kanan mumbled, her voice raw from screaming. "Let's make this fast."

"Kanan-san…"

Dia smiled at Kanan tearfully. She stood up and reached her hand out. Kanan wiped her tears away before taking a deep breath and letting it out. She gave Dia a look of determination and took her friend's hand. Kanan stood up and looked over to Maki.

"Maki-san… Take care of Riko for us."

Maki nodded. "I will. You can count on it."

Kanan nodded over to Dia. "Let's move." Dia nodded and before going back down the stairs she quickly grabbed the two cans of paint and paintbrushes. Before descending back down the stairs, Dia gave a longing look to Riko.

"We'll be back, Riko-san. We promise."

* * *

 

Mari had made the announcement. She used the intercom to let the other guests know of this crisis. She gave everyone an order to come upstairs to her suite.

No one showed up.

It was only… the  _seventeen_ of them in that hotel. All the maids, chefs, and staff members… killed themselves off fairly quickly.

This made Mari's stomach turn as she thought of what could be happening to her father in Europe.

"So, no one's responding?" Umi asked Mari. The Aqours blonde propped her elbow on the table, resting her chin on her hand.

"No," she replied.

"So… we're the only ones in this hotel right now…?" Honoka whispered.

"I can assume so," Eri concurred.

Growing frustrated, Mari stood up from her desk.

"Has anyone from your group got  _any_ signal?" she asked Honoka. The ginger shrugged her shoulders.

"Even if we  _could_ get signal, all our phones would die by the time we could properly reach someone…"

"Not to mention, we don't know how much longer we'll have electricity," Nico added. She bit down on her fingernail. "This is becoming a real problem…"

"Where the hell is Maki?" Eri griped.

"They should be back soon," Nozomi assured.

Right on cue, the group returned to Mari's suite.

Only, there were  _three_ of them. Maki, Riko, and Dia.


End file.
